Knowing what asthma is all about is not enough if you won’t also get to know it causes as well as its signs and symptoms. This is because knowing the reasons behind this illness would enable someone to prevent it from attacking.
However, the exact reason behind asthma has not been found out.
Here is a list of these known factors:
- Parents who also have asthma.
- A tendency to develop allergies inherited from ancestors and other members of the family, known as atopy.
- Certain infections of the respiratory system that happened during childhood.
- Coming in contact with several allergens present in the air or exposure to a number of infections caused by viruses during infancy or very early in childhood when the development of the immune system is still starting.
If it is known that atopy or asthma runs in the family, then exposure to irritants and allergens found in the air could make the airways react more to the substances that can be breathed in the air.
Allergens are pets like cats and dust house mites, while irritants could be such substances as tobacco or cigarette smoke.
Also see Airway Disease in Kids
Some people tend to be born with Asthma. This indicates it could be something related to a gene. The gene is yet to be discovered.
What causes Asthma Attacks
Smoking and Asthma
Smoking is extremely harmful to the lungs of a person suffering from asthma. Tobacco smoke is a powerful trigger of asthma symptoms. Smoking also causes an increase in the mucus produced by the lungs. This mucus then blocks the airways thus causing a lot of discomfort to an asthma patient. Second hand smoke is in fact more dangerous than the inhaled smoke itself. This is because the smoke coming off the end of the cigar or cigarette contains more harmful compounds such as carbon monoxide compared to the inhaled smoke.
Bronchial asthma causes
Bronchial asthma is caused from the afflictions of the stomach and the gastro-intestinal tract. Bronchial asthma is an allergic reaction to the allergens and is a very dangerous respiratory disease. Other causes of bronchial asthma symptoms are not very clearly established.
Do Cats Cause Asthma
Cats and cat hair may cause allergy that may trigger asthma attacks. The allergy may also cause itchy skin and cough and cold. I don’t think cats can cause asthma, they may just trigger it in people who are already suffering from asthma. But this is true from any airborne particles, why just cats, it could be dogs, the pollution and many other things that can trigger asthma attacks.